Tag Archives: The Basic Leaf

Post navigation

Good Morning, Patient Quilters! Sorry about the delay this week. A little busy here at the Kennedy household…

Minnesota trees are in full color right now and I am inspired every time I look out the window. In honor of the season, I am offering The Basic Leaf.

Start by drawing three “rails”. In the sample below, the lines are one inch apart.

Begin stitching on the middle “rail”. Stitch a curved line and stop on the middle rail.

Reverse direction and stitch the mirror image back to your starting point. (Leave a small gap–see photo below.)

Next, stitch a squiggly line to create the veins on the left side of your leaf. Keep the lines away from the center line.

At the top of the leaf, stop and then stitch a straight line down the center rail.

Stitch the right veins with the squiggle stitch. Then stitch out of the leaf and you are ready to begin the next leaf in the row!

For variation- replace the squiggle lines with pointy lines.

This motif is a great leaf on ANY quilt. The leaf is a classic motif. It can look modern and it can look traditional.

After you complete the row of leaves, experiment with filling in the open space.

In the photos below, I added a few curls and swirls.

Each one is a little different, so I can’t do a tutorial on it, but if you would like I could design a repeatable pattern for a tutorial. Try a few variations. See what you come up with–and post them on Flickr HERE!–Perhaps a challenge???

Have fun with this design, and try your own variations within the leaf as well!

Happy Halloween!

Lori

PS-All designs, photos and tutorials are copyrighted by Lori Kennedy at The Inbox Jaunt. Feel free to pin and re-blog with attribution. Commercial use requires permission from the author.